One such valve timing control device for an internal combustion engine, has been disclosed in the following prior-art Patent document 1.
That is to say, the valve timing control device disclosed in the Patent document 1, is configured to lock a relative rotation phase of a vane rotor to a housing (a timing sprocket) in a predetermined relative rotation phase relationship between them by engagement of a lock pin during an engine stopping period, thereby improving a startability.
Also provided in the vane rotor is a fluid-communication control mechanism for permitting fluid-communication between a phase-retard side communication passage and a phase-advance side communication passage through an annular groove formed in the outer periphery of a communication pin. For instance, when an engine has stalled with the vane rotor whose relative rotation phase has been kept in a maximum phase-retard state, the fluid-communication control mechanism permits two adjacent hydraulic chambers (that is, a phase-retard side hydraulic chamber and a phase-advance side hydraulic chamber), arranged circumferentially adjacent to each other and defined on both sides of a vane, to be communicated with each other. This increases a fluttering motion of the vane rotor, caused by positive and negative alternating torque transmitted from the camshaft, thereby enabling the vane rotor to be moved to the predetermined relative rotation phase rapidly.